Offense opens up to snap losing
streakLabanc stays hot and pots game
winner

12/10/16 - By Mike Lee -

With a four game road trip looming on the horizon,
the Sharks didn't want to kick things off already on a 3-game losing streak.
They prevented that by jump-starting the offense then holding off the Carolina
Hurricanes for a 4-3 win at SAP Center on Saturday night. Kevin Labanc's 4th
goal of the season with 6 minutes remaining in the 2nd period turned out to be
the game-winner. The Sharks rookie scored in back to back games and is
outperforming some of the big ticket forwards who were supposed to be carrying
the load for San Jose.

Labanc was Johnny on the spot when a Dylan
DeMelo shot from the blueline kicked off the left pad of Hurricanes goaltender
Cam Ward. The Puck deflected out to the right side where Labanc was swooping in
toward the net. The rookie winger punched at the puck, firing it past Ward for
a 4-2 Sharks lead.

That goal turned out to be a big on after the
Hurricanes scored in the 3rd period to make it a one-goal game.

Things
started off swimmingly for San Jose when Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton
teamed for a 2-on-1 break that resulted in Marleau's 7th goal of the season
just 12 seconds into the game. Justin Braun tried chipping a puck up the ice
and Joe Pavelski saw Thornton breaking up ice as he back skated toward his own
zone. Pavelski let the puck sail between his skates to Thornton who streaked up
the right wing and feathered a lass to Marleau for the tap in on the left post.
Defenseman Justin Faulk split the two Sharks forwards, but his out-stretched
stick was a hair short as Thornton's pass landed right in the spot that Marleau
needed for the shot that beat Ward.

Thornton would take a holding
penalty on the next shift and the hurricanes made quick work of the Sharks
penalty kill. Lee Stempniak buried a Teuvo Teravainen feed from the doorstep a
tick shy of the 2 minute mark to tie the game at 1-1. Teravainen carried the
puck to the top of the crease before sliding a pass to Stempniak on the right
wing for a quick shot that beat Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell.

San Jose
answered right back a little more than a minute later when Paul Martin threw a
puck on net that kicked off defenseman Brett Pesce's skate and redirected past
Ward. The Hurricanes goaltender had a line on Martin's shot and was sliding to
cover the left side of the net before Pesce's footwork contributed to Martin's
1st goal of the season.

A Derek Ryan slashing penalty midway through
the 2nd period was the Sharks lone chance on the man advantage, and they played
as poorly as could be. A deflection in the Carlina zone landed on Victor Rask's
stick as the Sharks got caught with a lone skater back. Rask slid the puck up
the center of the ice as Joakim Nordstrom sprinted up ice. Nordstrom beat Brent
Burns to the puck and when the Sharks defenseman dove and missed trying to
clear the puck with his stick it was a breakaway chance for Carolina. Nordstrom
charged in on Dell and slid the puck between his pads to make it a 2-2 game.

San Jose responded with a pair of goals. Logan Couture
showed off some nifty hand-eye coordination by deflecting a waste-high shot by
Burns from the right point. Couture parked himself in front of the Carolina net
and knocked the puck off its trajectory to get a 3rd shot past Ward.

Labanc worked his magic less than 2 minutes later to push the Sharks lead to
4-2. Ryan converted the Hurricanes 2nd power play chance of the night 3:42 into
the 3rd period after Brendan Dillon was called for a ticky-tack cross checking
penalty as he and Sebastian Aho skated back to their respective benches.

Burns was sent off for hooking Jeff Skinner 3 minutes later, but the
Hurricanes forward was called for embellishment.

The Hurricanes made
it a game with a flurry of scoring chances late in the game in attempt to sweep
the season series, but Dell withstood the rush. One chance went to review after
a scrum in front of the Sharks net resulted in the puck being pushed into the
Sharks netminder. An official review confirmed that Dell kept the puck out of
his own net to preserve the lead.

Dell finished the game with 30 saves
for the win.

Game Notes:

* The Sharks win was the
1000th victory in franchise history.

* Jeff Skinner recorded 11 shots
on goal in the game. His biggest came in the final minute of the game from just
outside the right post, but Dell snared the chance.

* All but four
Shark skaters recorded a blocked shot. San Jose finished the game with 25
blocks.

* Logan Couture was not a rock in the faceoff circle. His 3
wins off draws came in 11 chances.

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